GOP Rep. Threatens Impeachment If Obama Goes Around Congress to Enact Gun Control

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Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, second from right, participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, for the 113th Congress on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 in Washington. Credit: AP

Should President Barack Obama decide to make good on his threat to enact gun regulations through executive order, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) says he may, among other actions, file articles of impeachment against the commander-in-chief.

“I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment,” Stockman said in a statement on Monday.

In a statement, Stockman didn’t hold back, saying Obama is launching an “attack on the very founding principles of this republic.”

“The President’s actions are an existential threat to this nation,” Stockman said in a statement. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms is what has kept this nation free and secure for over 200 years. The very purpose of the Second Amendment is to stop the government from disallowing people the means to defend themselves against tyranny. Any proposal to abuse executive power and infringe upon gun rights must be repelled with the stiffest legislative force possible.”

Obama said in a Monday morning press conference that he will make public recommendations from a task force run by Vice President Joe Biden to curb gun violence in the wake of shootings in Newtown, Conn. Last week, Biden said some of those restrictions may be achieved through executive order instead of the legislative process.

Stockman said tinkering with the Second Amendment requires due process and the consent of Congress, the representatives of the American people. Stockman is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who returned after 15 years in January to oppose John Boehner as speaker of the House.

“The President’s actions are not just an attack on the Constitution and a violation of his sworn oath of office – they are a direct attack on Americans that place all of us in danger…If the President is allowed to suspend constitutional rights on his own personal whims, our free republic has effectively ceased to exist,” he added.